


fateful encounter on a dirty wet sidewalk

by tsubahono



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Ako is very gay, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Its hard to write, Tags will be updated, Werewolf AU, drama(probably), ill try to throw in some angst if i can get myself to write it, sorry i couldnt keep up her chuuni personality very well, updates wont be consistent but ill try to stay on top of it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-04 07:45:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14588316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsubahono/pseuds/tsubahono
Summary: On a beautiful rainy day, Ako meets the most important person in her life. In other words, she looks down and sees a hungry, soaking wet animal staring at her.





	1. holy shit, she's naked

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!!! there is a disgusting lack of akorinko and so i decided i would try and fix that a little bit. im not sure how many chapters this will be but im hoping to make it a decent length!! i hope u all enjoy <3

"Be careful on the way home, alright? Don't catch a cold."

Ako turned to look at Lisa on her way out the door. "Yeah, I won't, don't worry. A being of darkness like me doesn't catch colds." She made a peace sign over one eye. The other girl laughed, and waved her off.

She couldn't help but chuckle as well as she walked away. She always had so much fun hanging out with Lisa and Sayo. None of their personalities matched, so she had no idea how their friendship worked out. Somehow, it just did. Even though she felt like Sayo hated her sometimes. Lisa said that's just how she is.

As she kept walking toward her own house, it started to drizzle. A tiny smile appeared on her features as she looked up. She had always loved the rain; there was something calming about it.

Her house was a fair distance away, but she didn't run for cover. Maybe her love of rain came from her " _edgy"_  personality, but it really was beautiful.

As she kept walking, she heard a sound off to her left. She curiously looked over, and her eyes widened when she laid her eyes on a wolf. It was extremely thin, had deep black fur, and was sitting on its haunches as it watched her. It was also bigger than any wolf she'd ever seen. Well--any she'd ever seen in photos.

Ako stared back, and stopped walking. The wolf twitched an ear, but didn't move.

Her thoughts were torn between,

_Holy shit a wolf_ _that's_ _so cool_ ,

_Oh man i_ _t looks hungry_ ,

and,

_Lisa_ _shouldn't_ _live so close to a forest_ _it's_ _dangerous that thing is huge._

She suddenly remembered the bag of crackers she had in her pocket that she hadn't eaten at Lisa's place, and decided to focus on how thin it was for the moment. Cautiously, she took it out of her pocket. The wolf lowered its head slightly.

_I_ _don't_ _think_ _that's_ _a good sign, but maybe if_ _I_ _just..._  Ako reached her hand out and slowly crept toward the animal.

It was on its feet in a second, shackles raised. Taking the hint, she stopped, and simply put the crackers on the ground, tearing a rip in the bag as she did so.

She backed up slowly, watching the wolf sniff the air before creeping up to take it. She was about ten feet away by that point, so she stopped and observed.

It kept it's body close to the ground as it walked forward to retrieve the bag, and then darted backwards. It glanced at Ako one more time before turning around and running off.  
  
  
  


The next day when Ako showed up at Lisa's house--uninvited, but it was routine for her to go every day to hang out--she made sure to tell the others about what she saw right away.

Lisa just chuckled. "Yeah, you texted me about it yesterday. But Ako, I don't think there are any wolves in this part of Japan."

Ako groaned. "I'm serious! It was huge, it, like, almost when up to my chest, just on all fours. And it took my crackers."

"How would you have even survived that?"

"Well... more like, I  _gave_ it my crackers."

"Figures."

Sayo looked up from one of Lisa's math assignments that she was checking. "I don't think she's lying, I've heard people say that they've seen wolves around this area as well."

Lisa looked back at the blue-haired girl that was currently hogging her favorite chair. "Really? I didn't think there were any."

Sayo shrugged. "Neither did I."

The brunette made a curious hum before she seemed to realize something. "That's my comfy chair, by the way. You better move," she scowled, but her tone was playful.

All she received was the tiniest of smug smiles in return.

Ako brought herself into the conversation again, feeling confident now that the stoic Sayo had taken her side. "See, I told you! I think I'm like, an animal whisperer, or something. That wolf will probably be my familiar," she said, striking a "cool" pose.

Sayo went back to what she was doing, and Lisa laughed with a shrug. "Alright, alright, I believe you. I guess you  _have_ always been pretty good with animals, too."

Said girl raised her head proudly, and puffed out her chest. Before she could say anything else, she was interrupted.

"Lisa, you made a mistake here," Sayo spoke up again as she pointed at a certain spot on the paper. And with that, the conversation was over.  
  
  
  


After she had left to go home and play some video games by herself, she saw it again.

It was on that same road, in that same spot. It watched her steadily as she walked. Ako gave it a small smile, and stopped. "Sorry, but I don't have any food with me today. But I will tomorrow if you come back."

She widened her eyes slightly as the wolf moved its head in what looked like a bowing motion and turned to walk away. "Did you... understand that?"

It looked back at her and flicked its ears before disappearing into the foliage.  
  
  
  


The next day, after getting laughed at by Lisa, she was back on that same road home. From what she could tell, Sayo seemed to be neutral on the subject. But she was always hard to figure out. Typically, when Ako was talking about something supernatural, she would be the first to speak up and tell her she was full of crap. Not using those exact words, of course, but she got the point.

As she walked, she was brought out of her thoughts when she subconsciously realized where she was. As expected, she looked up and to the side to see that same wolf waiting there for her. She stopped and gave it a friendly smile.

"Do you mind if I come a bit closer? I have food this time, I promise. You can probably smell it though, huh."

It continued staring at her until it bobbed its head and sat down. Ako moved closer until she was only one or two yards away, and pulled a plastic bag with lunch meat in it out of her pocket. She tore it open so that the contents could be accessed, and put it down before backing away slightly.

The animal looked at her with a long blink before claiming its meal. Ako stared at it as it ate. "Do you... actually understand me?"

It paused to glance at her before continuing to eat.

"I want to take that as a yes, but I can't tell."

As the wolf had its meal, the two locked eyes. She noticed that its eyes were a deep color that seemed to be some kind of blend of every color on the cool side of the color wheel, but the one that stood out the most was purple. She wasn't quite sure how she could recognize so many colors mixed together all at once, but that's the description that came to mind when she looked into its eyes.

By the time it had finished half of the food--which actually wasn't all that much-- it took the rest in its mouth and walked away to the edge of the trees. Ako stood up from her crouched position to watch.

Before it disappeared from her view, it turned to her and wagged its tail once.

Ako smiled.  
  
  
  


After classes on the next day, she found herself sitting in Lisa's living room alone with Sayo. The owner of the house went out to grab snacks, claiming that she was starving and there was nothing to eat.

The atmosphere was awkward and heavy. The two girls were complete opposites. There was nothing to talk about--nothing relatable between them. The blue-haired girl was reading a book, while Ako browsed her phone, looking up occasionally.

"Hey Sayo..." she wasn't sure how to test the waters on this topic, so she just plunged right in. "Do you believe in werewolves?"

The girl looked up. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious."

She paused with a small sigh before speaking again. "No. Just because there are wolves in an unlikely place like this doesn't immediately make it a supernatural occurrence."

Ako felt her spirits drop. "Well, I know that, but..."

Sayo looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Lately, I've been feeding this wolf on the side of the road..."

"Feeding it?"

She nodded. "It seemed really hungry, so I just... starting giving it some of my food."

The other girl gave her a look, but then sighed. "I see. The prey population  _has_ been declining in this part of the country..."

"Yeah. But anyway, I've been feeding it, and sometimes I'll talk to it. And when I do, it moves its head and stuff-- it acts like its responding to what I'm saying." Ako said, moving her hands for emphasis.

Sayo shook her head. "You're imagining things, Ako. It must have just been a coincidence."

She sighed, feeling dejected from the other girl's expected but disappointing reaction.

"Yeah, yeah... whatever, I know."

The rest of the time passed without any conversation until Lisa returned, bringing snacks and a positive atmosphere with her.  
  
  


 

Within a few days, Ako had become somewhat accustomed to showing up at that spot in the road every day on the way home.

After a visit that left her feeling somewhat bored, she was back to her meeting place with the werewolf suspect, watching as it finished off her half-eaten sandwich. She was crouched only a couple of feet away, and it seemed to have its guard down more noticeably than it had before.

Too tempted to resist, she reached out to put a hand on its head. It froze as soon as she made contact but didn't immediately lash out. Instead, it stared at her, as if it was examining something.

"Do you mind?" Ako asked, tilting her head slightly to look into its eyes more clearly. It hesitated before continuing to eat. She smiled, keeping her hand where it was.

Once it had finished, it raised its head to look steadily at her. She pulled her hand away, trying to anticipate what it was going to do. But there was one thing on her mind that was making it hard to keep away, and hard to keep her mouth shut. She knew it seemed ridiculous, but it was the most logical explanation for the situation, and she was  _really_ curious.

"Are you a werewolf?"

It stared at her even more, before turning around and walking away until it was at the edge of the treeline. Ako stood up with a huff that was somewhere between a laugh and a disappointed sigh. "I figured."

As she started to walk away, there was a soft bark behind her. She looked back to see the wolf watching her, and it barked again. It was the first noise she had heard from the animal, and it was softer and quieter than she would've expected from an animal that size.

"What?"

It wagged its tail once and whined, taking a step back. Ako took a step forward, and it took another step back. She tilted her head, and this continued until she was following it into the bushes.  
  
  
  


Once they were a way in and well out of the sight of any people, it took off into a run, leaving Ako behind. She stopped and held a hand out, starting to yell, but stopped in fear of attracting unwanted attention from any other animals that might be close by.

"Hey!" She decided on a whisper-yell, cupping her hands over her mouth in the direction that the wolf had run off in.

After a few moments, when she was really starting to freak out, she heard a rustle in the bushes ahead. Assuming it was the wolf coming back for her, she felt relief wash over her. "Come on, you really scared... me..."

She trailed off, staring at the sight in front of her.

It wasn't a wolf, but a girl. She shared the same black hair and purple eyes as the wolf did, and somehow Ako could immediately tell it was the same being that led her there. But her thoughts were torn between two different paths.

_I knew it I knew it I was right it's her she really is a werewolf and she's a girl and I've like pretty much made friends with a werewolf that's so cool in your face Lisa and Sayo,_

and,

_Holy shit she's naked._

Ako and the girl both stood there in silence--a stunned silence, in the purple-haired girl's case--and stared at each other. The girl held her hands together in the middle of her chest timidly, and Ako noticed her nervous eyes that had a shape which made them naturally look a little scared. She decided to speak up.

"Are you, um, that... w- that....." Ako pointed in the direction that they had come from.

The other girl nodded. "Yes, I am..." Her voice was soft and quiet, instantly giving her a shy image.

Ako stared in awe as millions of questions floated around in her mind. But before all that, there was one that her mind decided was most important.

"Do you have any clothes?" She blurted.

The girl tilted her head slightly. "N- No...? I'm sorry..."

They stood there in silence for a moment, until the werewolf seemed to realize something. "Oh! This is embarrassing for humans, right? I- I'm sorry..." She covered herself more properly, backing away slightly.

Ako looked away. "No, it's fine... I don't mind... But, uh, do you want to come to my house? I might have something you can wear."

The black-haired girl tilted her head for a short moment, until she finally spoke. "Oh. Um, yes, if you don't mind.

And so, she spent the next five minutes getting weird looks from people as a giant wolf tailed her home.  
  
  
  


Once they were inside Ako's house and the werewolf was in one of her outfits, although they were pretty small on her, the purple-haired girl finally felt somewhat relieved. But she was still kind of in shock, and she had a ton of questions she wanted to ask.

The girl--whose name was apparently Rinko--was sitting on her couch, eating another sandwich that Ako had offered her. As she watched her guest look around curiously, she felt a bit embarrassed about the room's dark theme and unsettling decorations. She found herself wishing that she had followed her sister's decorating advice instead of her own.

"Is it good?"

The taller girl startled slightly. "Y- Yes, thank you."

The two of them sat in silence for a moment as Ako's mind raced with questions.

"So you're... a werewolf?"

"Yes..."

She stared at Rinko for a moment, who averted her eyes nervously.

"Wait, so, I always saw you as a wolf, why weren't you ever in human form?"

"Well... most of us don't default to human form. The only time I use it is when I have a lot of things to bring back to the territory, and there aren't any pack members to help me carry--"

"You have a pack?! And a territory?!"

Rinko nodded slowly.

"Does it work like a normal wolf pack? Does it have like an alpha and beta and stuff?" Ako was buzzing with excitement.

"It does, but we have the same mental capacity and thought process as humans, so we don't treat each other as harshly as real wolves would."

"Ooh. That's awesome."

The black-haired girl smiled at that, seeming a bit more relaxed than she was earlier. "Did you... have any other questions?"

Ako thought for a moment. "How come most of you don't like human form?"

Rinko averted her eyes, beginning to speak slowly as if she were choosing her words carefully. "Well... Human society is... complicated. You all have to go to school, work, make money, and pay for things, right? ...People will even hate each other just for what kinds of clothes they wear. Life as a wild animal is easier. We hunt, we watch after each other, and we guard our territory. That's about it. There are some werewolves that prefer human society, but I'd say it's only about 5 percent of us at most."

The other girl took a moment to process the information she had been given. "That makes a lot of sense, actually. It  _is_  really stressful, and people are super judgmental. Now that I think about it, that kind of life would be way nicer... I'd miss video games, though."

"Video games?" The werewolf tilted her head.

"Ah, I'll show you later. Oh, by the way, you don't have school, right? But you seem pretty smart... Do you have some kind of learning system?"

"Well, we kind of just learn things as we go. You could think of it as what humans call home schooling. We learn basic things to know enough to survive, but we don't learn the complicated things that human schools do."

"Lucky... I wish I didn't have to learn about how to multiply trinomials." Ako smiled tiredly, and then waved her hand dismissively at the other girl's confused expression.

It went quiet again, and she felt a bit awkward. Now what? She wanted to keep spending time with the werewolf, but its not like they were best friends. She tried racking her brain for things to talk about before she was interrupted.

Rinko perked up with a worried look. "I wasn't supposed to be gone this long! Yukina will be so worried!"

"Oh, m- my bad?! I didn't know you had to be back by a certain time, I guess I didn't think about that..."

She shook her head. "It's not that I have to, but they're expecting me to return soon. I don't want them to worry."

Ako smiled. "You really get along well with your pack, huh?"

Rinko smiled back, and nodded.

"Thank you, ah-- Ako. This was nice, and your food was very good," she stood up, and her voice had a tone of finality to it that made the other girl feel a little disappointed.

"Of course. I had a lot of fun, and I learned a lot of cool stuff. I had no idea werewolves even existed until now," Ako stood up as well.

Rinko giggled, but then turned to the door and hesitated.

"...What's wrong?" The shorter girl asked.

The werewolf had a somewhat ashamed look on her face. "I... I'm just not very used to walking in this body, so..." She took a step forward, looking as if she were walking on a tightrope.

Ako couldn't help but laugh, seeing her wobble in place. The other girl laughed as well, despite her embarrassment.

"I guess I should just transform, then."

Hearing this, the purple-haired girl stopped laughing, curiosity winning out over amusement. "Oh yeah, what's that like...?"

Rinko hesitated.

"U- Um... I've actually always been kind of nervous about transforming in front of others... So I, um..."

Despite a curiosity so strong that it pulled at her nerves, Ako nodded out of politeness and turned around. "I didn't know werewolves got embarrassed about that kind of thing."

"Most don't. I just get anxious easily, I suppose."

As she faced the other way, she could hear an odd sound behind her. She had nothing to base it off of, but she guessed that's what bones rearranging themselves sounded like. Once she heard a small whine, she turned around, met with the sight of a wolf--well, Rinko. Her previous clothes were on the floor, and she was looking up at her with nervous eyes.

"Wow, you're almost as cute in this form as you are in human form." Ako laughed when the girl-turned-wolf tilted her head. "Er, just kidding. I guess I should let you go know, huh?"

She led the way to the door, the animal following behind her. When she opened the door, she smiled. "Bye, Rinko. I'll... see you later?"

Rinko blinked slowly at her before touching her nose to her hand gently and running outside, down the metal staircase the led to Ako's apartment and towards the sidewalk.

Once she was out of sight, Ako smiled and closed the door.


	2. balance and embarrassment

As Rinko trodded back into her territory, the smell of her pack became more imminent. She took several minutes to navigate to their main hideout, about two miles in.

When she reached her destination, a few of her pack mates rushed to greet her, tails wagging as they sniffed her all over.

Rather than voiced communication, in werewolf form they had a type of nonverbal communication. Every little gesture, motion, and sound meant something different. If someone asked her how they could understand each other, she wouldn't be able to answer. It was something only werewolves could do.

Kokoro wiggled excitedly, rapidly licking the side of her face. ' _What happened? Why were you gone so long? You smell like a human_!'

Rinko returned the gesture, but not with as much enthusiasm as the smaller wolf. ' _Sorry, Kokoro. I_ _didn't_ _mean to make you worry. I met with the human_ _that's_ _been giving me food_.'

Yukina, the pack alpha, approached them, touching noses with the black wolf. ' _Was_ _she kind to you? I know_ _you're_ _aware, but you need to be careful with humans. Remember what happened to Kanon... and Saaya_?'

Rinko lowered her head solemnly, looking over at Kanon, the silver wolf with a blue gleam to her fur. She wagged her tail, but couldn't get up to greet her with her injuries.

' _Yes, I remember_...'

Yukina huffed, before giving her cheek a small lick and turning away. ' _Just be careful_.'

She stood in place for a moment and looked around. Ran, the pack beta, gave her a look, before turning away to join Yukina. Misaki was laying with Kanon, as usual, and snapped at Kokoro every time she ran up to them with too much energy.

Kasumi, Natsuki, and Arisa seemed to be out hunting. As she looked around, Chisato approached her.

' _You reek like humans_ ,' she stated. Rinko took a tiny step back, lowering her head.

' _Yes... I've been speaking to one, and she provided me with food_.'

Chisato openly growled, stamping a paw against the ground. ' _And you would trust it?! You should stay away from humans! Just look at what those disgusting_ _creatures_ _did to Kanon_!'

Rinko nervously turned to glance at the bullet hole in Kanon's side, before lowering her head even further. ' _I'm_ _sorry... Chisato_...'

The other werewolf huffed and walked out of the camp.

 

 

Several days later, Ako went to Lisa's house again. She spent some time with her two friends, talking to them for about an hour before she decided to go home.

Rinko didn't show up by the side of the road that day, so she went home by herself, frowning slightly.

When she arrived at her apartment, she sat down at her computer lazily, pulling out her hair ties and taking off her jacket as it loaded up.

Once it was turned on, she opened up her most recent MMO, logging in and spawning in her guild base.

Other players walked up to greet her, and she typed a greeting back. She had only started the game the other day, but new players tended to be a bit spoiled by veterans with extra items.

Only moments after logging in, she got a party invite from her friend, Moca. She gladly joined, switching to the party chat.

**GayFrappe:**  whats up ako wanna do do a dungeon

Ako snickered at Moca's username before typing out a reply.

**xXAKOXx:**  hell yea let's do it, let me just sort some items real quick

**GayFrappe:**  k

A moment passed before there were any more messages in the party chat.

**GayFrappe:**  is that avatar actually what u look like irl

**xXAKOXx:**  nah it's based off someone I know

**GayFrappe:**  gf???

**xXAKOXx:**  lmao I wish. Nah she's just a friend

**GayFrappe:**  oo so what made u choose shapeshifter class didn't you say you usually pick mage

Ako figured Moca wouldn't believe her, but she typed the real reason out anyway.

**xXAKOXx:**  bc she's a werewolf

**GayFrappe:**  oh sick my gf is a werewolf too

**xXAKOXx:**  mhmm does that make you a furry then

**GayFrappe:**  no u

**GayFrappe:**  but yeah if ur being serious I believe you, I'm 100% serious her name is Tsugumi and she's super shy. The more correct term for werewolf is lycanthrope tho

That certainly wasn't the reply Ako had been expecting. She pondered for a moment before typing out another message.

**xXAKOXx:**  fr?? The one I know is named rinko, and I think she has like super anxiety but she's so sweet

**GayFrappe:**  yeah that's normal for a lot of lycanthropes that stay in human form if they were born as a wolf

**xXAKOXx:**  she usually stays in wolf form though, she can barely even walk as a human

**GayFrappe:**  ok that's actually hilarious wtf

**GayFrappe:**  but if she's anxious and never goes in human form how tf did you meet her

**xXAKOXx:**  I saw her on the side of the street and she looked really hungry so I fed her for like a week and she was acting like she understood me and stuff so then like she led me into the forest and boom pretty girl

**GayFrappe:**  damn that's rare gj. True gay

Ako laughed. She was pretty sure that was  _not_  what was happening, but she entertained the thought anyway.

**GayFrappe:**  wait does that mean she was naked when you met

**xXAKOXx:**  yeah she didn't even realize at first and then she got all embarrassed it was cute

**GayFrappe:**  nicee I met tsugumi in school I didn't find out she was a werewolf until I had known her for like 5 months

Ako, and Moca continued talking for a long time, and only after getting kicked for inactivity did they remember to do the dungeon.

 

 

 

"Hey guys, I gotta go!" Ako suddenly exclaimed, standing up from the couch and turning towards the door.

Lisa looked up at her in surprise. "But you haven't even been here that long!"

She stopped, tripping over her words. "I know, but I  _really_  wanna play Monster Hunter right now, so I'm leaving early today.

The brunette looked over her for a moment, before sighing. "Alright... have fun, Ako. Just be careful on the way home!"

She smiled. "I will!"

She ignored the unreadable look she was getting from Sayo as she walked out the door.

Ako immediately took off, running down the decorated pavement, not having to worry about cars because it wasn't blackroad. It was a bit surprising to her that a street like this existed, just a wide, almost light purple sidewalk.

Pushing that to the back of her mind, she ran along the treeline until she reached the meeting point. Once she stopped and began to wait, she noticed a familiar shade of fur in the corner of her vision.

The girl perked up in excitement as Rinko crept into the open. She crouched down to get on the werewolf's level. "My place?"

She took the wagging tail as a yes, and happily stood up to lead the way to her apartment.  


 

 

Once Rinko was dressed, she settled on the couch across from Ako, eating from a bag of chips with a smile on her face.

"Do you like it?" Ako asked, trying not to grin at the other girl's expression.

"Yes! I- It's very good. I've never eaten something so salty."

Unable to help it, Ako laughed. "I'm glad. That's one of my favorite snacks."

"I can see why."

With nothing left to say, the purple-haired girl just smiled. The two sat in a silence that was somehow both comfortable yet awkward.

She had bought the chips for herself, but Ako let Rinko finish the entire bag, entertained just by watching the amazed expression on the other girl's face.

"Um, are all human foods like this?"

"Well, not all of them, but a lot of snack foods are."

Rinko hummed, nodding in understanding as she ate another chip.

"So, uh," Ako started. "Do you wanna... do something? We could, like, buy you clothes, if you want."

The dark-haired averted her gaze. "But, um..."

"Hm? What's up?

"I'm still not very good at walking in this form... it's hard to balance..."

Ako took a few seconds to process her words, before laughing again. "I can help you, if you want."

"Are you sure...?"

"Yeah, it's no problem at all," she assured her. She stood up, pushing the coffee table to the side with one foot, and held her arms out.

Rinko looked up at her with nervous eyes as she put the chip bag down, before gently grabbing onto her hands and standing up.

Ako giggled again, taking a step back, still keeping her soft grip on the other girl's hands. Rinko followed, taking a tentative step forward.

"Is it really that hard to balance?" Ako asked, genuinely curious.

The dark-haired girl just laughed. "Yes, I'm used to walking on four legs, so..."

They took a few more steps while she gradually got the hang of walking in human form.

"I guess the shape of the feet makes it easier..." Rinko noted. The other girl smiled at the curious look on her face.

As they kept walking, Ako tried to come up with something to say. After a short moment, she spoke up.

"Hey, Rinko... what do you think about nicknames?"

She tried not to swoon when the other girl openly tilted her head. "Nicknames?"

"Like a short name that friends call each other. Like... what if I called you Rinrin?"

"Rinrin..." She pondered for a moment, before smiling. "Yeah. I like it. Thank you, Ako."

Before Ako could respond, anything she was thinking was interrupted when Rinko leaned forward and  _licked her cheek_.

"Wh--" She let go of Rinko's hands in a panic, reaching up to cup her face with one hand. "What was that?!"

The other girl recoiled, looking worried. "I- I'm sorry, do humans not do that...?"

Ako just stood, cupping her red face, trying to get her brain to come up with a response.

"N- N- No... it's, uh, kind of an embarrassing thing."

Rinko lowered her head just slightly, folding her hands together in front of her chest nervously. "I'm sorry... um... what do humans do, then..."

The shorter girl stepped forward, her face still red.

"Like this..." she slowly leaned in, wrapping her arms around Rinko in a soft hug.

Ako could practically see the cogs working in the werewolf's head before she returned the gesture.

"Like this?"

"Yeah."

They stayed still for a moment, just hugging, until Ako eventually pulled away.

Rinko smiled. "I think I like that better. It's... soft."

The other girl could only nod, looking up at her with a face that she hoped wasn't showing too much affection.

She broke out of her reverie when she realized she was staring, and looked away. "S- So, should we get going? Shopping, I mean."

The dark-haired girl looked down, fidgeting slightly. "Um... I'm actually kind of tired, and being around a lot of humans sounds scary... I..."

Ako turned her head back to her, examining her nervous face. She thought for a moment, before grabbing her hand and smiling when Rinko looked up to meet her gaze.

"It's okay, we can go some other time. You don't need to push yourself," she assured her.

Rinko smiled back, and leaned in slightly before realizing what she was doing and stopped, stepping forward to hug her instead. They both laughed.

When they pulled apart, Ako led her back to the couch, holding her hand to help her balance. Once they were both sitting comfortably, a thought came to her mind.

"Hey, Rinko, do you wanna see what video games are?!"

With her nervous enthusiasm, Rinko nodded. "Y- Yes!"

"Okay, hold on a sec!"

Once Ako got her computer out, the two girls were in for a long night.


End file.
